Tuesday, December 27, 2011

Now That's a Nutcracker!!

At 85 years old, my nan gave up her apartment and spent the rest of her days living between my mum's house and my uncle's house. One day I headed up to her apartment with my mum, to help her sort through her things and start the packing process. My nan asked me to let her know if there was anything I wanted. Over the course of the day, I found a few items that I asked her if I could have for keepsakes, 2 of the items belonged to my grandfather, known as pampy to the family...he had passed away about 4 years earlier.I had such vivid memories of these items from way back, when they lived in a house in Surrey. I'd often see pampy sitting outside playing a game of dominoes with some old crony from work, so I asked for the set of dominoes, still in the original box and I also asked for his nutcracker. For as long as I can remember my grandparents had 'his and her' chairs, very much in the way that Archie and Edith Bunker did. Sitting beside pampy's chair was always a bowl of nuts with this nutcracker resting on top. Now granted, thinking about it as an adult, it may have been considered a bit rude to some, but having a sense of humour runs in the family so I don't know anyone who ever took any offense to it. As a little kid I thought it was the coolest thing and my opinion hasn't changed, it has great lines and it's quite a heavy object. I didn't even like nuts back then, but me and my brother would ask if we'd could crack some nuts just so we could use it. So my grandfather would sit in his Archie Bunker chair while we took turns choosing nuts from the seemingly vast assortment in the bowl, all the while giggling at the 'lady's legs bustin' up nuts!Aaah the simple pleasures in life - nut bustin'! I'm not sure if they brought it with them from Wales or how long they had it, but my memory of it goes back almost 40 years! This little beauty now sits on my desk, and word to the wise, if I ever need to bust some nuts, I'm well prepared!!

About Me

Compact size with a big heart.
One third Snoopy, one third Linus and one third Charlie Brown...that best sums up who I am.
The Good - I love to sing, I'm not afraid to admit my love affair with chocolate, music is my drug of choice, nice people make me giddy with joy and I've been good friends with photography for awhile.
The Bad - my singing, the fact that clouds sometimes make me so happy that I swear, hardly my fault. I'm often/always late for um, everything. I will not eat fish, no matter how good it is for me. I hate the smell of vitamins and mothballs.
The Ugly - spiders, the beasts who taunt me for their pleasure...be warned, I am not afraid to destroy you...OK, I should say, 'I'm not afraid to find someone to destroy you'.
Mimes - I find them very shifty.
Men who ride unicycles - again, shifty.